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The Milwaukee Bucks (45-27) will play host to the Washington Wizards (30-41) on Thursday at Fiserv Forum. Tip is set for 8:00 p.m. ET.
The Bucks are coming off a big 126-98 win over the Bulls on Tuesday as Jrue Holiday led the team in points with 27. Giannis Antetokounmpo added 25 points and 17 rebounds, as five other players racked up points in the double digits. Milwaukee sits in third place, tied with the 76ers and just a game and a half behind the first-place Heat with 10 games left to play.
Washington is coming in on the back of a 115-97 loss to the Rockets, as they sit in 12th place in the Eastern Conference. They’re not mathematically ruled out of the playoffs just yet, but they’re five games back from the last play-in spot, and have just 11 games left to go in the season.
DraftKings Sportsbook has the Bucks favored heavily by 12.5 points at home, with their moneyline odds set at -1000. The Wizards come in at +625 with the point total set at 232.5.
Wizards vs. Bucks, 8:00 p.m. ET
Pick ATS: Bucks -12.5 (-115)
The Bucks and the Wizards are two completely different teams at this point in the season. Milwaukee, the defending NBA champs, are surging in hopes of surpassing the Heat at the top of the East. The Wizards have gone 2-8 in their last 10 outings, and rank 28th in the league in defensive rating through that stretch.
Washington is still chasing down a play-in spot, but with their poor form lately combined with missing Kyle Kuzma (knee), they’re most likely not going to find any respite against a team like Milwaukee. Giannis and company shouldn’t have much trouble taking care of the Wizards, even without Khris Middleton, who’s been ruled out for the game with a wrist injury.
Over/Under: Over 232.5 (-110)
I’m leaning toward the over just because Milwaukee has one of the best offenses in the league, averaging a second-best 115.1 points per game over the course of the season. They’ve averaged 126.7 through their last three outings, going over the total in two of their last three games as well.
The Wizards have hit over the total in nine of their last 11 games, even though they’ve only won three of those contests. They lost by 14 the last time they ran into the Bucks, and that was even with Kyle Kuzma leading the way with 25 points and 11 rebounds. They’ll be expected to struggle even further without Kuzma as the Bucks walk all over them on their home court tonight.
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